Most people facing this question are carrying two jobs at once: grieving someone, and answering brothers, sisters or a surviving parent who keep asking when things will be done. A person just named executor or successor trustee often has no idea whether the answer is a few weeks or a few years. This page explains what actually sets the clock, so the family can understand the steps in front of them and plan around them.
The Short Answer: What Shapes the Timeline
Three questions decide most of the timeline: whether probate is needed at all, whether a living trust holds the main assets, and whether anyone is disputing the estate or its value is complicated.
Those answers put an estate on one of three tracks:
- Full probate. The superior court appoints a personal representative and supervises the work from start to finish.
- A simplified procedure. A short affidavit or petition moves property without a full court case.
- Trust administration. A successor trustee settles assets held in a trust, usually without court supervision.
On the probate track, the creditor-claim period acts as a floor. Under Probate Code section 9100, a creditor has until the later of two dates to file a claim: four months after letters are first issued to a general personal representative, or 60 days after notice of administration is mailed or delivered to that creditor. "Letters" are the court document that gives the personal representative authority to act.
The California estate settlement guide sets out how the tracks fit together.
When Full Probate Is Required — and How Long It Takes
Full probate applies when property in the decedent's name alone cannot pass by a trust, a beneficiary designation, joint ownership or a simplified procedure. The decedent is the person who died. The California Courts' Guide to property after someone dies notes that an estate may need to go through probate even when there is a will.
The structural milestones run in order:
- Deliver the original will. Under Probate Code section 8200, the person holding the will delivers it to the superior court clerk within 30 days after learning of the death, unless a petition for probate has already been filed. That person also sends a copy to the named executor.
- File the petition. According to the California Courts' overview of formal probate, the case is filed in the county where the decedent lived.
- Get appointed and give notice to creditors. The court appoints a personal representative and issues letters, and the representative then sends notice to creditors.
- Wait out the creditor period. The Probate Code section 9100 period described above applies here.
- File the inventory and appraisal. Probate Code section 8800 sets this deadline, explained below.
- Attend the court hearing and get the order for distribution. The representative files a petition for final distribution, and the judge rules on it at a hearing.
Under Probate Code section 8800, the inventory and appraisal is due within four months after letters are first issued, and the court may allow more time when that is reasonable. The personal representative also files a certification about the change in ownership statement for any California real property.
Probate Code section 12200 sets an outer marker. The personal representative must either petition for final distribution or file a status report within one year after letters are issued. That period is 18 months if a federal estate tax return is required.
When there is no will, the estate is called intestate. The court appoints an administrator, using the order of priority in Probate Code section 8461. That list begins with a surviving spouse or domestic partner, then children, then grandchildren, and it continues through more distant relatives. Confirming who the heirs are can add time. Hearing dates also depend on each county Superior Court's calendar, so they vary from one county to the next.
Simplified Procedures: When Full Probate Is Not Required
A family that learns the estate qualifies for a simplified procedure often feels real relief. These procedures skip the full probate case, and much of the waiting with it. The Judicial Council names four of them:
- The affidavit for collection or transfer of personal property. Under Probate Code section 13100, a successor may use it once 40 days have passed since the death. It covers money owed to the decedent, tangible personal property, and items such as accounts and securities. The gross value of the decedent's California property cannot exceed the limit, after leaving out the property that Probate Code section 13050 excludes. That excluded property includes joint tenancy property, property in a revocable trust, and certain registered vehicles.
- The petition to determine succession to the decedent's primary residence. This asks the court to transfer the decedent's main California home without full probate.
- The affidavit for real property of small value. This covers real property worth less than its own, much lower limit.
- The spousal or domestic partner property petition. Under Probate Code section 13650, a surviving spouse can ask the court for an order that administration is not necessary for property passing to the surviving spouse. This petition has no general value cap.
Judicial Council form DE-300 lists these limits for deaths on or after April 1, 2025:
- $208,850 for the personal property affidavit
- $750,000 for the primary residence petition
- $69,625 for the real property of small value affidavit
Different limits apply to earlier deaths. The California Courts' simple-transfer page says the next update is scheduled for April 1, 2028.
Trust Administration: A Different Timeline
A successor trustee is the person the trust names to take over managing it once the person who created it, called the settlor, has died. Assets that are properly held in the trust pass under the trust's terms, without court-supervised probate.
The work still follows rules. Under Probate Code section 16061.7, the trustee must serve a written notification on each beneficiary and on each heir of the deceased settlor. The deadline is 60 days after the trust becomes irrevocable because of the death. If the trustee learns of a person entitled to notice later, the deadline is 60 days after the trustee becomes aware of that person.
The notification must include several pieces of information, including:
- who the settlor was
- each trustee's contact details
- where the trust is administered
- that the recipient can request a copy of the trust's terms
After the notice goes out, the trustee still has to handle any debts, tax filings and the valuation and distribution of assets. Trust administration is usually faster than probate, but it is not instant.
Some assets may never have been transferred into the trust. Those assets may still need probate or a simplified procedure, which can bring a court timeline back into a trust estate.
What Causes Delays — and What Keeps Things Moving
Delays tend to come from a short list of causes:
- a contested will or trust
- disagreement among heirs or beneficiaries
- real property whose sale needs court confirmation or a notice of proposed action
- missing or unknown heirs
- federal or state tax filings
- crowded calendars in the county Superior Court
When an estate is contested, or someone suspects misconduct by an executor or trustee, that is a separate kind of matter. It is handled by an attorney who litigates trust and probate cases.
For a personal representative, delay can also come from the court's own rules about authority. The Judicial Council's form DE-147, Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative, warns that skipping required court permission can lead to removal or personal reimbursement of the estate. Seeking that permission takes time, but it avoids those risks.
Other habits keep things moving. An executor who files the petition promptly, sends the creditor notices early and files the inventory within the four-month window avoids the most common stalls. Keeping estate funds in a separate estate account, as DE-147 directs, also helps. Organized records and quick replies to the court and to creditors make each later step easier. An estate settlement checklist lays these tasks out in order.
What Happens to a House When the Owner Dies
What happens to the house depends first on how title was held. Title is the legal record of who owns it. The house is real property, and the law handles it differently from personal property such as furniture, cars and bank accounts.
- Joint tenancy. Property held in joint tenancy is excluded from the estate's value for the simplified procedures under Probate Code section 13050. It generally passes to the surviving joint tenant without probate, and the survivor updates title through the county recorder's office.
- Community property passing to a spouse. The spousal or domestic partner property petition described above can confirm the surviving spouse's ownership.
- Held in a trust. The successor trustee generally manages the house and can sell it, subject to the trust's terms, without court supervision.
- Sole ownership with no trust. The house goes through probate or, if it qualifies, a simplified procedure for a primary residence or for real property of small value.
In probate, whether a sale needs court confirmation or a notice of proposed action depends on the authority the court has given the personal representative. DE-147 directs the representative to consult an attorney about sales of estate property. The selling process itself, from listing through closing, is a separate subject once a family has decided to sell.
Property tax is a separate question. A child who inherits a parent's home may be able to avoid reassessment under Rev. & Tax. Code section 63.2. Among other conditions, the home must become the child's principal residence within one year, and the homeowners' or disabled veterans' exemption must be filed within a year. The full value of the home matters too. A claim must be filed with the county assessor, within the filing periods the statute sets.
The county assessor's office handles exclusion claims. A CPA, an enrolled agent or a tax attorney can review income-tax and basis questions. The options of keeping, renting or selling are compared in keep vs. rent vs. sell, and inheriting a house in California covers the steps that come first.
Executor Compensation and Who Gets Paid First
Both questions tend to come up once the family sees how much work the estate involves.
Executor pay. California law sets the personal representative's compensation by a statutory schedule in the Probate Code. According to the California Courts' overview of formal probate, the fees are generally a percentage of the total value of the estate. The same rule applies to the attorney for the personal representative, if there is one. These fees are usually paid at the end of the case. DE-147 adds that, without a prior court order, the representative may not pay fees to themselves or to an attorney.
Who gets paid first. The Probate Code sets the order in which an estate's obligations are paid. The categories include administration expenses, funeral expenses, secured debts, taxes and the claims of general creditors. Heirs and beneficiaries receive their shares only after valid debts, taxes and administration expenses are paid.
